Page 87 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

Preaching as Self-Revelation of Jesus Christ

The nature and function of Jesus’ preaching is tantamount to the self-revelation of Jesus

Christ himself. The essential content and central theme of his preaching is the Kingdom of

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God. Jeremias counted the expression “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of Heaven” in the
sayings of Jesus as recorded in the first three books of the New Testament. The saying appears

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sixty-one times in the separate accounts of Jesus. Even though it was the main theme of Jesus’

preaching, scholars have not agreed on what Jesus and the Synoptic writers mean by the

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“kingdom” terminology.

Even though Jesus did not define exactly what he meant by the Kingdom of God, it is

inferable through an analysis of his sermons. When Jesus initiated his public ministry in Galilee,

he proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe

in the good news” (Mark 1:15). Through his preaching, he revealed himself as the fulfillment of

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Mounce, The Essential Nature, 30. Norman Perrin, Rediscovering the Teaching of Jesus
(New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1967), 54. Jeremias, New Testament Theology, 96.
Robert H. Stein, The Method and Message of Jesus’ Teaching, rev. ed. (Louisville, KY:
Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), 60.

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Jeremias, New Testament Theology, 31 He provides all verses. According to Him: Mark
13 times; Logia common to Matthew and Luke 9 times; Additional instances in Matthew only 27
times; and Additional instances in Luke only 12 times.

65 Stein, The Method and Message, 61. He provides excellent summary of the main
schools of interpretation on the Kingdom of God: 1)The Political School; 2)The
Noneschatological School; 3)The “Consistent” Eschatological School; and 4) The “Realized”
Eschatological School. Mounce, The Essential Nature, 30-40. He also provides excellent
succinct explanation of the topic. For a more detailed discussion, see Wendell Willis, ed.,
th
Kingdom of God in 20 -Century Interpretation (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.,
1987).